Yeah, the LA Clippers have problems after dropping a third game in a row, this time to the Brooklyn Nets in a double overtime game that had no business being a national event.

Let’s just go through the events:

– The Clippers had just destroyed the Nets on November 14, a game that didn’t feature Brook Lopez but did feature Blake Griffin. It wasn’t a fair fight, and it was 1 of 5 games during LA’s 14-2 start in which the starters didn’t play in the 4th quarter.

– Griffin got his first rest day of the season, allowing former Net Paul Pierce to make his first start of the season at PF. Lopez also started for the Nets. After showing up late in Detroit and not showing up at all in Indiana, the vibes were good early with the Clippers up 65-53 at halftime.

– It was looking like another Clippers blowout in the 3rd quarter. Austin Rivers went on a personal 9-0 run to force Brooklyn head coach Kenny Atkinson to call a 20 second timeout, and the Clippers led 86-68 with 2:00 left in the 3rd quarter. The question was whether or not the starters would even need to play in the 4th quarter again. LA led 86-73 at the end of the 3rd quarter … the only time the Clippers blew a 13-point lead entering the 4th quarter under Doc Rivers was Game 6 of the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals against the Rockets.

– But these weren’t the Rockets. These were the Nets. Losers of 7 straight! And these weren’t the 2014-2015 Clippers, right? Wesley Johnson hit a three to open the 4th quarter, and with 9:30 left the Clippers had a 16-point lead. Much like former Houston head coach Kevin McHale kept James Harden out down the stretch, the Nets kept Bojan Bogdanovic out for all but the last 1.8 seconds of regulation despite the fact that he had made 10-of-12 FTs and was second only to Lopez in scoring at the time for the Nets with 14 points. Atkinson went with a lineup of his starters (PG Isaiah Whitehead, SG Sean Kilpatrick, PF Trevor Booker, C Brook Lopez) along with wing Joe Harris down the stretch.

– Enter Sean Kilpatrick. Through 9:30 left in 4th quarter, Kilpatrick was terrible. He had only 13 points on 3-of-14 shooting from the field (21.4 percent), and he had no assists and three turnovers. Kilpatrick made a three with 9:26 left in the 4th quarter to start a ridiculous scoring run. From 9:26 in the 4th quarter until LA’s final possession of regulation, Kilpatrick outscored the Clippers by himself, scoring 20 of Brooklyn’s 34 points during a stretch that saw the Clippers score only 15 points. Lopez made 2 threes in the 4th quarter, including a go-ahead three to give Brooklyn a 107-104 lead with 1:11 left in regulation. Lopez made 4 threes in the game – the 9-year veteran made 3 threes in the first 8 seasons of his career!

– Chris Paul finished this game with a triple-double (26 points, 10 rebounds, 13 assists), though he attempted the most FGs in a game that he did not attempt a single FT in his career (11-of-26 FGs). None of his shot attempts were more critical than this three that forced overtime:

– Flash forward to the end of overtime. DeAndre Jordan was fouled from behind attempting a dunk with the Nets up 117-114 with 19.9 left. Jordan missed the 1st FT and made the 2nd, and then the Clippers tried to trap. Referee Lauren Holtkamp didn’t see it that way, and she called a personal foul on Brandon Bass. (You may remember Holtkamp having a contentious history with Chris Paul, as Paul was fined $25K in February 2015 for criticizing her quick whistle. Paul was T’d up late again by Holtkamp in February 2016.) Doc Rivers came all the way out past midcourt to disagree with Holtkamp’s call, which is when Ken Mauer gave Rivers a technical foul. Rivers proceeded to charge Mauer and get himself ejected. It was a meltdown that appeared to put the Clippers on ice, as the Nets were going to shoot 4 FTs while leading by 2 with 18.6 left in OT.

– The Nets would miss 3 of the 4 FTs awarded to them, with rookie PG Isaiah Whitehead missing both techs and Kilpatrick missing the front end of his pair before knocking down the 2nd, allowing Mike Woodson to set up a play for the Clippers down 118-115. Just as Paul forced OT, he found Jamal Crawford for another game-tying three to force a 2nd OT.

– There would be no game-tying or game-winning shots for the Clippers in double overtime. Kilpatrick somehow made a basket through contact from Jordan and completed the three-point play with 13.5 left in double overtime to give the Nets the final lead of the game, 127-122. Kilpatrick outscored the Clippers by himself in double overtime 5 to 4, and he finished with a game-high 38 points. Overall, since the 9:26 mark in the 4th quarter through the end of the game in double overtime (the final 19:26 of the game), Kilpatrick scored 31 points. The Nets would outscore the Clippers 54-33 over that stretch while shooting 57 percent from the field.

– Needless to say, this was a comprehensively disappointing loss for the Clippers. Besides wasting Paul’s triple-double, they also wasted a 21-point, 23-rebound effort from Jordan while allowing a season-high in points. And thus concludes what was supposed to be the “easy” part of LA’s road trip! If they’re going to even things up before returning home, they’ll need to win in Cleveland Thursday night and then win in New Orleans on the 2nd night of a back-to-back – all while trying to bust the 5th losing streak of at least 3 games under Rivers since he joined the Clippers in 2013.

Let's Go Clippers, let's go! This 2019/2020 season is going be incredible and we're watching every step with you.

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